Description

Warfare was the single biggest preoccupation of historians in antiquity. In recent decades fresh textual interpretations, numerous new archaeological discoveries and a much broader analytical focus emphasising social, economic, political and cultural approaches have transformed our understanding of ancient warfare. Volume II of this two-volume History reflects these developments and provides a systematic account, written by a distinguished cast of contributors, of the various themes underlying the warfare of the Roman world from the Late Republic to the sixth-century empire of Justinian and his successors. For each broad period developments in troop-types, equipment, strategy and tactics are discussed. These are placed in the broader context of developments in international relations and the relationship of warfare to both the state and wider society. Numerous illustrations, a glossary and chronology, and information about the authors mentioned supplement the text. This will become the primary reference work for specialists and non-specialists alike.show more

Review quote

"...this is indeed a useful and up-to-date reference work... The bibliography will be invaluable to any student of the Roman army; the chronological table, glossary, and list of ancient authors are essential to the success of the book's main goal, namely permitting an assemblage of expert essays to function as a reference work accessible to the non-specialist; and the index of ancient passages cited (23 pages of small type) and the thoroughly cross-referenced general index (another 37 pages) will indeed make this a productive reference work for decades to come." --BCMRshow more

About Philip Sabin

PHILIP SABIN is Professor of Strategic Studies in the Department of War Studies at King's College London. His main academic interest concerns the analytical modelling of conflict, and he is the author of Lost Battles: Reconstructing the Great Clashes of the Ancient World (2007) and co-editor (with Tim Cornell and Boris Rankov) of The Second Punic War: A Reappraisal (1996). He teaches and writes about the strategy and tactics of warfare from ancient times to the twenty-first century. HANS VAN WEES is Professor of Ancient History at University College London. He is the author of Status Warriors: War, Violence and Society in Homer and History (1992) and Greek Warfare: Myths and Realities (2004) and editor of War and Violence in Ancient Greece (2000). He has co-edited (with Nick Fisher) Archaic Greece: New Approaches and New Evidence (1998), (with Egbert Bakker and Irene de Jong) Brill's Companion to Herodotus (2002) and (with Kurt Raaflaub) A Companion to Archaic Greece (forthcoming). MICHAEL WHITBY is Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick. He is the co-editor of Volume XIV of The Cambridge Ancient History (2001) and author of Rome at War, AD 293-696 (2002) as well as several articles on late Roman warfare, and has made several television appearances talking about ancient warfare from the Graeco-Persian Wars to the collapse of the Roman Empire.show more

Table of contents

Part I. The Late Republic and the Principate: 1. International relations Harry Sidebottom; 2. Military forces Boris Rankov; 3. War Adrian Goldsworthy; 4. Combat Catherine M. Gilliver; 5. Warfare and the state. (1) The economics of war Dominic Rathbone; (2) The military and politics Richard Alston; 6. War and society Colin Adams; Part II: The Later Roman Empire: 7. International relations Mark Humphries; 8. Military forces Hugh Elton; 9. War Michael Whitby; 10. Combat Philip Rance; 11. Warfare and the state Doug Lee; 12. War and society Andrew Fear; Chronological table; Glossary; List of ancient authors.show more